Surreptitious

Chapter 18: The Wolf Wants What The Wolf Wants

“It can’t be… Are you sure of what you saw?” Alaric’s eyes were wide, but his brow hung low in disbelief at what the three girls were telling him.

“No, daddy. All three of us ate some bad mushrooms and now we’re seeing things.” Lizzie rolled her eyes at her father’s obstinance.

“Look, Dr. Saltzman, there’s no question about it. It’s…” Hope paused and glanced at her feet. “It’s not the first time I’ve seen her eyes do that.”

“It’s not the first time and you didn’t think it a good idea to perhaps tell me?!” Alaric nearly shouted at Hope and she could sense his anger, causing her to wince.

“Wait, when else did you see her eyes do that?” Jade chipped in from the side, understandably also concerned about the new development regarding the girl she was seeing.

“It was after your date.” Hope stated simply without looking over to where Jade was standing to her side, rather keeping her eyes focused on Alaric.

“You mean her eyes went all wolfy when you tried to kiss her?” Lizzie smirked and arched a brow at the tribrid, who very suddenly flushed scarlet at the reminder that Lizzie basically interrupted a moment between her and Josie.

“You did what?!” Both Jade and Ric spat out at the same time, though where Ric was merely surprised, Jade was fuming.

“Don’t start.” Hope turned towards the vampire and stated very simply and clearly. “You went on one date. You have no claim.”

“And you do?” Jade’s eyes turned red, veins starting to pulsate beneath them just below the skin.

Hope answered by ways of her own eyes lighting up and shining a bright gold color as she stared up at the other girl. “Maybe I do.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she was shocked at herself. Since when did she actually want to stake a claim on Josie Saltzman? It was almost as if the wolf inside of her took hold of her voice and uttered those words before she could even think about it.

“Do not start! This is my daughter we’re talking about, and this is a real issue we are dealing with! I need help. I need information. I do NOT need raging teenage hormones!” Ric had had enough and expressed as much as his voice boomed through the office, leaving all three girls to blink down at their shoes.

(…)

Josie leaned back against the tree with a deep sigh, her fingers digging into the grass by her sides. Somehow the feeling grounded her and calmed her rampant emotions. The tangible feeling reminded her of where her body was and helped her focus on her tactile senses in order to keep her distracted from the overwhelming storm raging inside of her chest and her head.

She had no idea why she exploded the way she had at Hope and Jade. She still could not believe that she had acted that way and said those things to them. It just did not seem like her, like something she would do or say. She was just… so angry, so frustrated, so on edge about everything and she had no idea or explanation as to why.

The only thing she had been sure of when she stormed away was that she needed time and space to just breathe and reclaim herself again. She needed to make sure that she was still herself as there was a very deep-seated fear buried within the back of her mind that the darkness had not left her completely. What else could it be?

There was something strong inside of her and it wanted out.

Soon.

(…)

“It’s not working.” Lizzie groaned in frustration at the map on the table between her and Hope. They had been attempting a locator spell in order to find Josie as Alaric looked on, worried.